Egypt's under-23 team coach Hossam El-Badry (Photo: Ahram Online archive)
Egypt's under-23 team coach Hossam El-Badry has announced a 25-man squad that will face Kenya twice in the 2015 All-Africa Games qualifiers.
The Kenyan team will be hosted by the young Pharaohs in the first leg in Cairo later in February, while the second leg will be played in Kenya next month.
"We chose those who can apply our strategy in this critical period as the team suffers the absence of some key elements," El-Badry told reporters on Sunday.
"We couldn't call up the foreign-based players and we also will miss both Mahmoud Metwali and Mohamed Salem who recently joined the list of our injured players," the coach added.
El-Badry, who has tested dozens of players in several training camps since taking charge of the team in late November, is to lead the Olympic team until the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Upon his appointment, El-Badry vowed to build a new generation of skilled players to aid the senior team in their bid to reach the 2018 World Cup.
Under former coach Hani Ramzy, Egypt qualified for the 2012 Olympics in London for the first time in 20 years. They were knocked out in the quarterfinal after slumping to a 3-0 defeat to Japan.
The full 25-man squad:
Goalkeepers:Mosaad Awad (Ahly), Hassan Shahin (Arab Contractors), Mahmoud Hamdy (Maqassa)
Defenders: Ragab Nabil (Wadi Degla), Bazoka (Ittihad of Alexandria), Yasser Ibrahim (Smouha), Mahmoud Hamdy (El-Geish), Abdel Rahman Hasaan (Ismaily), Osama Ibrahim (ENPPI), Mohamed Adel Gomaa (Masry), Ahmed Samir (Zamalek)
Midfielders: Kahraba (ENPPI), Ahmed Refaat (ENPPI), Mahmoud Hamad (Ismaily), Omar Elwahsh (Ismaily), Hamdy Fathy (Damanhour), Amr Warda (Ittihad of Alexandria), Mostafa Fathi (Zamalek),Mohamed Ashraf Tawfik (El-Geish), Ramadan Sobhy (Ahly), Karim Bambo (Ahly), Mahmoud Hassan 'Trezeguet' (Ahly)
Strikers: Shokry Naguib (Ismaily), Mohamed Ashraf (Masry), Huessin Ragab (Maqassa)
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